NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
EarthAlmanac
India's Black Market Is
Alive--Wildlife Is Not
A roomful of contraband rep
resents a rude awakening for
India's wildlife officials, who say
they did not realize the severity
of the poaching problem. Six
'
months ago four raids netted:
* 12 tiger skins
a 132 claws from eight tigers
385 pounds of animal bones
124 leopard skins
18,080 claws of more than a
thousand leopards.
The evidence is sobering, since
India has about 60 percent of the
world's remaining 4,500 to 7,000
tigers. A news report suggested
that one seized skin might be
that of the tigress called Sita,
featured in the December 1997
GEOGRAPHIC. However, Belinda
Wright, executive director of the
Wildlife Protection Society of
India, examined the pelt and says
that its markings "are definitely
not Sita's." Authorities believe
that the tiger, 16 years old when
last seen in October 1998, has
probably died of natural causes.
PALLAVABAGLA
Preserving Lewis and
Clark's Heritage
Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark saw a lot of country on
their 8,000-mile trek from the
Missouri to the Pacific from
1804 to 1806. With that bicen
tennial nearing, the Sierra Club
seeks to protect 34 sites near
the route. One of these, the Buf
falo Gap National Grassland,
spreads 591,000 acres over South
Dakota. "We want more desig
nated wilderness, more buffalo,
and a halt to railroad expansion,"
says Sam Clauson, head of the
South Dakota chapter.
JULY 2000